Morgan Evans Spills the Backstory on His Recent Surprise for Wife Kelsea Ballerini

Last month, country music rising star Morgan Evans had a choice to make. As a result of a last-minute schedule change, he had a bit of a break in the middle of what has already been quite a grueling summer in terms of touring for the Australia native.

Admittedly, for any other guy, the schedule change might have meant time for a little relaxation, perhaps time to binge on some movies—or maybe even time to take a much-deserved nap.

“Our managers were really the only ones in on the surprise,” Evans says during a recent interview with Taste of Country. He plotted what sounds like a long day traveling to and around Nevada: “I worked out a way to fly to Reno and then take the longest Uber ride ever to Tahoe.”

Once he got there, Evans says he bounded on to Ballerini’s bus...where she was, yes, taking a nap. “I tapped her on the shoulder, and at first I think she was a little mad that someone had woken her up,” laughs Evans, who shared the afterglow of the surprise with his adoring fans on Instagram on July 22. “But yeah, she was totally surprised that it was me.”

Of course, it’s these little moments that make a marriage, especially when both husband and wife are building their way to country-music superstardom.

“It’s been all sorts of craziness since getting married in December last year,” explains Evans, who recently wrapped up his coast-to-coast trek on his 10 In 10 Tour. “But we knew that this year, there just wouldn’t be a lot of free time available in light of both of our schedules.”

So when do the newlyweds anticipate a bit of a break? “I want to say we finish touring on the same day in December,” he laughs. “Time goes by so fast. It will be nice to make a point of just going somewhere where we can just be.”

But until then, Evans remains focused on putting out music, much of which is directly and indirectly inspired by Ballerini herself. In his brand-new song “American,” for example, Evans sings about the American girl that makes the U.S. seem like home.

And yep, that girl certainly sounds a lot like Ballerini: “Oh yeah, I was thinking of Kelsea when I wrote it, but it’s just as much a love song to America as a whole,” says Evans. “I love how it has a really big feel to it.”

He also has come to adore American crowds.“They are such a pleasure,” says Evans, who will go out on tour with Chris Young come September. “No matter where you are in the world, country music audiences all end up being crazy. But American audiences? Well, they show up crazy.” Crazy isn't a bad thing in this case, right?